BBC Three
Television channel operated by the BBC / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about BBC Three?
Summarize this article for a 10 years old
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, current affairs, and drama series.[1] The television channel closed down in 2016 and was replaced by an online-only BBC Three streaming channel. After six years of being online, BBC Three returned to linear television on 1 February 2022.[2] It broadcasts every day from 19:00 to around 04:00, timesharing with CBBC (which starts at 07:00).
Logo used since 2022 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom Ireland Channel Islands Isle of Man |
| Network | BBC Television |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i/1080p[lower-alpha 1] HDTV (downscaled to 576i for the SDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | BBC |
| Sister channels | BBC One BBC Two BBC Four BBC News BBC Parliament CBBC CBeebies BBC Scotland BBC Alba |
| History | |
| Launched | 9 February 2003; 20 years ago (2003-02-09) (original) 4 March 2019; 4 years ago (2019-03-04) (block on BBC One) 1 February 2022; 19 months ago (2022-02-01) (relaunch) |
| Replaced | BBC Choice |
| Closed | 16 February 2016; 7 years ago (2016-02-16)(original) 31 January 2022; 19 months ago (2022-01-31) (block on BBC One) |
| Links | |
| Website | BBC Three |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 23 (SD) Channel 107 (HD; England & NI only) |
| Streaming media | |
| BBC iPlayer | Watch live (UK only) |
BBC Three is the BBC's youth-orientated television channel,[3] its remit to provide "innovative programming" to a target audience of viewers between 16 and 34 years old, leveraging technology as well as new talent.[1] Unlike its commercial rivals, 90% of BBC Three's output originated from the United Kingdom. Notable exceptions were Family Guy and American Dad (both of them originating in the United States). It and sister channel BBC Four also carry occasional BBC Sport programming as an overflow for the BBC's other channels.
Following budget cuts at the BBC, the first iteration of BBC Three ceased operations on 16 February 2016, despite public opposition, moving to a BBC Three-branded streaming channel on the iPlayer.[4] It returned to broadcast television in the form of a late-night strand on BBC One on Monday to Wednesday nights since 4 March 2019. On 2 March 2021, the BBC confirmed that it planned to relaunch BBC Three's linear television channel in 2022 subject to regulatory approval,[5] which was approved in November that year.[6]